William h



(No Model.)

, W. H. HUMPHREY.

PAINT BRUSH BRIDLE.

No. 475,114. -Patented May 1'7, 1892.

F73; 7/ 46 V ax WITNESSES IN VENTOI? wig/W ev.$%% J 6 A TTORNEYS' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM H. HUMPHREY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PAINT-BRUSH BR|DLE.-

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No; 475,114, dated May 17, 1892.

' Application filed January 15, 1892- Serial No. 418,163. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. HUMPHREY, of New York city, in the county and State of New York, haie invented a new and Improved Paint-Brush Bridle, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in bridles for paint-brushes; and the object of my invention is to produce a simple and durable bridle which is comparatively inexpensive, which can be applied to paint-brushes of all kinds, which enables the coloring-mat ter or paint to be easily worked out of the brush, which may be arranged so as to give the brush any necessary or desired shape, and which may be easily turned up, so as to perunit the brush to be cleaned.

To this end my invention consists of a paint-brush bridle, the construction of which will be hereinafter described and claimed;

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of-the brush, showing my improved bridle attached thereto. Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the bridle, and Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the brush with the bridle turned back in position to have the brush cleaned.

The brush 10 is of the usual kind, having the bristle portion 11, which is held in the back or plug 12, and projecting from the back is the usual handle 13. The bridle, which embraces the butt-end of the brush, takes the place of the usual twine, which is wound around it, and consists of two similar pieces or flaps 1 1, which together are adapted to completely envelop the butt-end of the brush. The flaps 14 are held at one end between the plug 12 and the brush-ferrule 15. The adjacent edges of the flaps are provided with eyeleted perforations 16, which are adapted to be connected by cords 17, and the cords are not arranged in the manner of lacings; but a cord is provided for each pair of the perforations, if desired, or in any case for nearly every pair, and consequently when the brush has become somewhat worn the outer cords 17 may be cut and the outer ends of the flaps cut off, so as to reduce their length and give the necessary flexibility to the brush.

The flaps 14 are provided near the center with eyeleted perforations 18, which are adapted to receive a cord 19, the cord extending transversely through the brush-bristles, as shown in Fig. 2, and the ends of the cord will thus appear on one side of the brushbridle, and it may be tied, as shown in Fig. 1. If the brush is to be round, the cord 19 is leftloose enough to permit the bridle to assume a cylindrical shape; but if the brush is to be flattened the cord 19 is tightened, and it will be readily seen that the flatness of the brush will depend upon the extent to which the cord 19 is tightened.

Near the base 14 of the flaps are perfora tions 20, through which the color or paint oozes when the brush is worked back and forth, to free the brush of paint of a certain color when it is to be used with paint of another color. When, however, the brush is to be thoroughly cleaned, the cords 17 are removed and the flaps 14L tipped back, as shown in Fig. 3, thus exposing the bristles throughout nearly their entire length and permitting the paint to be entirely washed out.

In practice the bridle is preferably made of leather, although it may be made of any flexible material having the necessary strength, and which may be trimmed or cut down when necessary.

From the foregoing description it will be readily understood that the bridle forms-an efficient support for the bristles, that the brush may be held by means of it in any necessary shape, and that by means of cutting down the bristles in the manner described the brush may be entirely used up. This is an important point, as with the common form of bridles the bristles cannot'be completely used up.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim as new and desire to Patent- 1. The combination, with the brush, of a flexible split bridle embracing the butt-end thereof and held at the butt between the brush-plug and the ferrule, the bridle having its adjacent edges perforated and connected secure by Letters by independent cords held in the perforahaving also perforations near their butt-ends tions, and cords extending transversely and having central perforations carrying a through the brush and bridle and secured to transverse cord, substantially as described.

the latter, substantially as described. WILLIAM H. HUMPHREY.

2. The brush-bridle comprising two similar Witnesses: flexible flaps having their meeting edges per- CHAS. U. HERALING,

forated and connected by cords, said flaps ERAsTUs M. VAIL. 

